Greater New Orleans

Sam Houston State coach David Pierce (left) will become Tulane's next baseball coach, sources said Sunday. Pierce led his team against UNO and Privateers coach Ron Maestri, right, earlier this year.
(NOLA.com)

Pierce interviewed Thursday -- following Jake Gautreau and Matt Riser, two other coaches who interviewed for the spot. Pierce was offered for the job on Friday but wasn't comfortable accepting the new post without assurances that the university would improve aid to baseball players.

The way scholarships are divided in the sport, schools can offer a percentage of a full grant-in-aid scholarship. For example, universities can divvy up a scholarship in percentages of the cost. With only 11.7 allowed athletic grant-in-aid scholarships, baseball players who don't get a full scholarship must come up with the remaining percentage to fund their tuition and other associated costs.

The issue is paramount at Tulane where tuition has soared to around $60,000. A partial scholarship still puts a great burden on most families to come up with the remaining money. Pierce would not accept the position without a promise from Tulane that it would increase access to academic aid for baseball recruits, the outlet reported.

"There's some things that's been in the making there and in conjunction with the merit scholars," Pierce said about the process to the Huntsville Item. "The possibility of utilizing some of the other aids within the institution that's already in place, that was part of the discussion.

"The financial aid, the merit scholarships and the cost is a factor to be able to get into communities across the nation. This is going to put me and my staff out on the road nationwide. I was in a program for nine years that had similar types of challenges and interest. I think from spending nine years at Rice, I understand it as well as anybody."

Pierce was Rice's hitting coach in 2003 and Pierce referenced Rice's model for using academic aid for athletes in the interview process with Tulane, according to the Huntsville Item.